Jake Paul promises to ‘reset Tommy Fury’s path’ when the two meet in Riyadh

The troubled kid turned businessman is on the hunt for another new title.

“I came up with several different nicknames,” says Jake Paul. But none that fully capture the new chapter of him.

For the past three years, this YouTube star has delighted in tipping over boxing’s apple cart. Now, however, Paul claims to have a higher cause. For the same. For boxing and for MMA.

He wants world titles. He wants to inspire children, introduce better medical care and bigger prizes for boxers, improve the way the sport is run and promoted. First on her to-do list, though, is a little philanthropy.

“Fighting Tommy Fury is charity work,” jokes Paul hours before the pair meet face to face in London to confirm their February 26 fight in Saudi Arabia.

“I don’t hate the kid, I don’t think he’s a bad person, I think he’s just stuck in the wrong lifestyle and doesn’t really know who he is.” He’s like a lost puppy trying to figure out his life.

And this is where Paul thinks he can help.

“I’m here to reset your life path,” he says. Paul believes that while Fury, 23, seems like an ‘arrogant, selfish bastard’, his opponent is, at heart, a ‘puppet’ born into a feisty family and forced into a sport that’s not for him. . .

“That’s what I think is happening,” he explains. ‘I think he thinks he loves this sport and all the glory. It’s been fun beating these taxi drivers, but he’s going to hate this sport after February 26.

Right or wrong, at least some answers could be coming soon. And not ahead of time. This bizarre and rather absurd rivalry, to sum up this bizarre and rather absurd mix of boxing and social media, has been simmering for a while. Paul and Fury looked at each other in the ring before Anthony Yarde’s loss to Artur Beterbiev on Saturday night.

They were due to meet in New York last August, only to have Fury denied access to the United States. Meanwhile, in December 2021, Fury had to withdraw through injury. Some wondered if his paths would ever cross.

Many more wondered why they would ever do it. Paul, along with his brother Logan, made a name for themselves online before deciding to give boxing a try.

Between Instagram and YouTube alone, this 26-year-old has more than 42 million followers. Hence the glittering bangles that climb up one wrist and the white watch, said to be worth $500,000, ticking away on the other.

Since this day in 2020, he has won six professional boxing fights against MMA, YouTube and NBA opponents. He also has his own promotional company and worked with Eddie Hearn on the Katie Taylor vs. Amanda Serrano epic.

Fury, meanwhile, is a light heavyweight whose purses and profile dwarf most 8-0 pros. Partly because he won hearts on Love Island in 2019. Oh, and because he’s the half-brother of WBC heavyweight king Tyson Fury.

That lineage has its advantages: Fury has grown up surrounded by boxing. However, he also brings expectations.

Particularly when Tyson and his father, John Fury, have told Tommy that he will have to retire and change his name, or stay in Saudi Arabia, if he loses this fight.

“He has a lot of weight on his shoulders,” says Paul. I can’t even imagine if my father or brother said something like that. But I guess he’s always been kind of a dwarf.

Unbelievably, some bookies make Fury the underdog. Some inside boxing like Paul too.

“I’m not surprised because I think the real people in the sport, who see through all the fluff, understand what’s going to happen,” says Paul. “But it’s funny because he’s been boxing since he was 12 years old and I’ve been a pro for two years, 364 days.”

This would be Paul’s first victory over a well-known boxer. If it happens, that is. The American remains so skeptical of Fury showing up in Riyadh that they have MMA fighter Mike Perry on hold.

“Everyone on my team was like, ‘No, let’s not do this,'” he says. And I was like: “I have to do this, I have to knock him out.” Despite the fact that the talks dragged on.

“I kept wanting more and more and more money,” says Paul.

“It was a lot of greed, which is hard because he’s never been paid anywhere near this amount. So we’re really taking a leap of faith in it.

He adds: “People in boxing, and it’s a real problem, just make this whole thing so complicated when it’s not necessary.” It’s the date, the weight, the size of the ring, that’s all. That’s all you really need. So everything else is just negotiation tactics or stalling or if they are afraid.

Fury and his partner Molly-Mae Hague are expecting their first child, which adds another layer of complication to all of this.

‘It’s a bit strange. Two of the most important moments in his life in a very short period of time here. I would tell my friends: I don’t know how mentally he’s going to deal with it,” says Paul.

“If I had a son, I wouldn’t want to go to the gym, so I think it will be a distraction for him.” But Paul is also juggling commitments.

“The main thing is getting fighters paid more… getting them long-term medical care,” he says. “For a long time you’ve seen all these wrestlers get taken advantage of and I want to be that change: unionize all wrestlers so we can all benefit and grow.”

Speaking in London, the American balks at a big chance to really talk about Fury. Or the head of the UFC, Dana White, with whom he has shared a long feud. His ‘ruthless’ trash talk has been tempered.

‘I don’t feel the need to go to those places. But if it goes there, it will go there,’ she says.

“Before my words were bigger than my actions and now my actions are bigger than my words and I like that balance better.”

Unfortunately, both words and actions matter when fights like these end in Saudi Arabia.

This matchup may not offer the same titles or prestige as others that have landed in the desert involving Anthony Joshua.

But profiling Fury and Paul means the same questions must be asked about Saudi Arabia, sports washing, and morality. Especially from an American.

“I don’t judge your country,” says Paul. “I really don’t know what’s going on there and I’ve always judged based on the people I know there and my experience there and it’s all been more than positive, more than friendly.”

That won’t satisfy all your critics. Nor will everyone buy the noble intentions that supposedly underpin this flirtation with boxing.

“Showing kids that anything is possible, putting up good fights and knocking people out,” says Paul. That will be my legacy.

And he adds: ‘You find all your first fulfillment in all the fame, glory and money. That’s fine for a while, but I’ve already done it.

Now though? ‘I found more satisfaction in helping other people.’

So, it’s time for some philanthropy.